oh dear... geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. belcher. i'm tamron hall. we're following developing news right now. president obama is taking to twitter right now, part of the intensifying push by the white house to get public opinion on their side over negotiations against house republicans on the so-called fiscal cliff. the president himself tweeted out plans for the q and a a short time ago saying he'll answer questions about the cliff, his proposal and pending tax hikes on the official white house twitter feed. press secretary jay carney insisted the white house is still optimistic it can reach a deal with congressional republicans. >> there has been progress, and we can achieve a bipartisan

agreement. the obstacle remains at this point the refusal to acknowledge by republican leaders that there is no deal that achieves the kind of balance that is necessary without raising rates on the top 2%. >> and there are just 29 days to go for the two parties to find some sort of middle ground, and joining me now from the white house nbc news correspondent kristen welker. what's the back story on this it twitter q and a for the president, which should start any minute now? >> reporter: that's right. this is part of president obama's full court press to get the public on board to pressure republicans to sign on to his plan to increase taxes for those making $250,000 or more. he had his first twitter town hall in 2011 when he answered questions about jobs and the economy. this is similar, except it will focus on the fiscal cliff.

$2,000 is the amount the average american will see taxes increase by if they can't get a deal done. i've been looking at the entries to this hash tag, it's mixed so president obama can expect tough x questions. one person writes in, why don't republicans in congress realize that when we voted for you we voted for your tax plan. that's one person. another writes in, what are you willing to compromise with the gop to get this fiscal cliff stuff done? i think president obama preparing to answer some tough questions from voters. over the weekend house speaker john boehner said these negotiations are nowhere. jay carney disagrees with that assessment. now phone calls at this point between president obama and congressional leaders, but the white house says the talks will be ongoing over the next several days, tamron. >> thank you. the president's q and a on twitter comes days after

republicans flat-out rejected his opening bid in negotiations. house speaker john boehner appeared on one sunday morning talk show to see the president's proposal was not in his opinion a proposal at all. >> i was flabbergasted and said, you can't be serious. i just have never seen anything like it. we have seven weeks between election day and the end of the year, and three of those weeks have been wasted with this nonsense. >> okay. >> treasury secretary tim geithner appeared on five separate sunday morning talk shows. he says it's the gop who have been short on specifics. >> we said how and how much and who should pay. they haven't proposed what they think. >> joining me now is california congressman karen bass. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me on, tamron. >> let me start off with a question on twitter already

posed to the president, and it was what are you willing to compromise to get the fiscal cliff done? what's your answer to that question? >> i think, first of all, many compromises have been done. for example, in the cuts issues there's been over a trillion dollars of cuts. i think democrats have demonstrated over and over again we're willing to compromise and willing to make more compromises, but it's the republicans now that need to come to the table and counter the proposal that the president put forward last week. >> part of the counter of what some republicans hope is a divide within the democratic party is the issue of entitlements and how to handle it. secretary geithner was on and said republicans want entitlement change they have to propose them. let me play what he said regarding social security. >> we're prepared to in a separate process look at how to strengthen social security, but not as part of the process to reduce the deficit the country faces. >> there's a notion some republicans are for lack of a better word salivating at a

possible it divide where you have some democrats who want no movement on entitlements and if there's any heat to be taken, it to come from the gop or go to the gop. >> let me just say a couple of things. first of all, what geithner was referring to is that social security shouldn't be on the table right now because it's not a driver of the deficit we're dealing with right now. he's referring to a separate process next year. what the republicans have asked for previously and i hope they're not going to continue to ask for is essentially the dismantling of medicare. we debated it during the presidential with paul ryan's proposal to put -- turn medicare into a voucher system. so when it comes to looking for savings in medicare, there's ways to find savings without breaking the guarantee that we've had to our seniors for the last several decades. i think democrats, again, have demonstrated repeatedly that we're willing to compromise, but the republicans have to come to the table, especially around

revenue. so the question frankly needs to be proposed to the person running the republican caucus, and that's grover norquist, who is not a member of this house, to say that the pledge that people should honor is the pledge to the u.s. constitution and not the pledge to grover norquist. >> speaker boehner was on fox news on sunday, and he says as he described negotiations, we're nowhere, period. we are nowhere. 29 days to go. we have some analysts such as our first read team that say the real negotiations won't begin until mid-november. already you have wall street and everyday people bracing for another 11th hour situations. how would you categorize where things stand right now 29 days out? >> well, i think 29 days in politics, as you know, is a very long time. i actually feel confident that we will reach a proposal. i say that because i know

speaker boehner and his caucus does not want taxes raced on every single person in the united states. there is a proposal sitting in our house right now passed out of the senate that would maintain the cuts for 98% of the u.s. population. >> we will talk about that a little later in a move that was mentioned by nancy pelosi. you express confidence, however, you have words like flabbergasted and reported laughter after geithner presented the president's proposal. that is often not a sign of a good thing. if we're talking and you mentioned it to me and i laugh in your face, i don't think you would think we're going in the right direction in real life. maybe in d.c., but in real life that's not a good sign. >> that's true. the way i think this game goes is that i was not surprised by boehner's response. i think that's what he has to say publicly. clearly, the president put forward everything that he would like to see, and i know that our democratic caucus would agree

with him. then that's a point of negotiation. so the deal is now boehner has seen what the president has put on the table. what is boehner going to put on? as i say all the time, the real question is who is going to lead now? is speaker boehner going to lead the caucus or the tea party lead? that's the question of the day. >> thank you for your time. we'll see if your answer to the question of the day is submitted to the president. thank you. >> wait until the wives make the boys come home. >> joining me now is erin pike and david goodfriend. david, you heard congresswoman bass refer to grover norquist. i want to play what he said regarding this ominous threat as described to republicans who may not fall in line. let's play it. >> tea party 2 is going to dwarf ta tea party 1 if obama pushes us

off the cliff. >> this was in reference to the president. he's threatening we will see a new, stronger tea party if we go off the cliff. >> yes. grover norquist also predicted an overwhelming victory by mitt romney and was proven wrong then, too. i think he and other republicans are playing a very dangerous game with their own political futures by failing to see the connection between this situation and the situation we were in around 1995 when there was a government shutdown. republicans thought they could drive this to the bitter end, and what happened? the american voters actually blamed them, the republicans, for what happened. i think it's a pattern in american politics when things happen that are, in effect, harmful government shutdowns, if you will, or breakdowns of process, the blame usually ends up on the side of the obstructionists in the republican party. i think there are enough republicans who want to win re-election who see that the strategy of obstruction failed them in this last election. they want to pivot and make a

rebrand of the republican party. those are the folks that are the deciding votes in the republican caucus, enough to combine with democrats who shorten that margin in the house to get something passed. >> an interesting note, erin. congresswoman bass mentioned another possible strategy from democra democrats. earlier told nancy pelosi tsd if speaker boehner refuses to schedule this for a vote, democrats will introduce a discharge petition it to automatically bring to the floor the senate-passed middle class tax cut. even though congresswoman bass and others have expressed opt mit optimism, when you put them in a corner, there's not a guarantee a deal will be made in the time period needed. >> that's right. something like that would certainly fail in the house because, of course, there is a republican majority there. they would pick off some republicans. i don't think you would get

enough for something like that to pass. i just spoke to some democratic aides in the senate who said they don't feel like they have gotten any closer with republicans over the past couple of days, over the weekend on negotiations but they will not make a move until republicans counteroffer. whether that's on deeper spending cuts than what the white house suggested or trying to come along with the revenue raises, we'll see. but there's saying right now nothing's moved just yet. >> erin, you have people at home saying how is this a stalemate? when you buy a car or house, you make your first offer, the person counters and you go there. how do the republicans justify not countering, and if their counter is simply laughter, that doesn't settle well with people who know they could pay more in taxes the beginning of the year. >> that's right. my sense is they will behind closed doors because of the existence of people and forces

like grover norquist. they want to do these negotiations behind closed doors because they don't need these external pressures saying you can't do that. so we'll be closer to a deal than we're seeing now. >> david, i could hear you wants to get in on that one. >> i want to make this point about public voices. one of the most important things we've heard the last couple of days was a statement not from someone in government, not from someone in public advocacy groups, it was the ceo of at&t, randall stevenson, had a public statement saying, we have the ability to do a deal. there should be a deal, and importantly, he included increased tax rates as part of a compromise deal along with other reforms and cuts. that's one of the biggest companies in the country, and that's a ceo who has trended republican in his own politics. if people like that make public statements and for that matter private statements to the republican caucus members, that moves the needle. the republican party has its own

core constituency lobbying to get off the dime. >> the president tweeted out -- he's taking the qa and a session. he tweeted, this is barack, let's get started. a republican congressman tom cole was someone praised by democrats for saying, let's get this deal done. he was on yesterday referring and talking about entitlements, which is a touchy subject for democrats. let me play what he said. >> look, if only nixon went to china, only obama can fix entitlements. this is where a president has to lead. >> what's your reaction to that? you have, obviously, the conventional wisdom is that whoever puts entitlements and specifics on the table will take the hit from it. democrats don't want that hit. republicans don't want the hit. you have cole hear saying it has to come from the president. >> i agree with congressman cole that the president has the credibility to talk about medicare reform, and i would

urge the congressman to read the detailed plan that the administration has put forward on medicare reform. it's there in black and white in excruciating detail. you don't need a sleep aid. pick up the document. it will put you to sleep it has so much detail on exactly how to reform medicare. i don't know where this narrative came from that somehow president obama has to put on the table these reforms to medicare he has in mind. he's done that. take a look. >> the nare tifr rative is some republicans believe there's traction if you have a split caucus with the democrats regarding what to do with entitlements. i know divide and conquer. >> it's a starting point. that's what the congressman is saying. president obama, come forward with a starting point. i'm saying, he did. >> all right. thank you so much. greatly appreciate your time, david and erin. we'll keep our audience up to day on the twitter questions coming into the president and some of his answers. keep it here. up next, new details from kansas

city police about the murder-suicide involving nfl linebacker javon belcher. we'll have the update and an emotional scene in the locker room after his team's victory last night. >> for having to deal with what we had to deal with and be able to pull through it and show some character as an organization. plus, the interesting title senator john mccain gave senator kerry a couple of hours ago at an event. we will play you the exchange. it's the hillary clinton tribute video creating a lot of political buzz today. >> you've been one of the best secretaries of state in american history. finally, hillary, a lot has been said about our relationship, and here's what i know. you haven't been just one of my closest partners but a great friend. >> you can join our conversation on twitter. find us @tamronhall a

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new details about the tran logic murder suicide involving kansas city chiefs linebacker, javon belcher. we hear police at the scene as belcher takes his own life what his head coach and general manager watch helplessly. >> okay, i've got two coaches and one other employee here who's trying to beg with this guy. he's got a black pistol to his head. at least four guys are standing tries to negotiate with him. i haven't made contact. we've got shots fired. self-inflicted one in the head. >> also, just a few hours ago, kansas city police confirmed belcher legally owned the gun he used to kill his girlfriend and

take his own life. yesterday belcher's teammates prayed together after winning their second game of the season against the panthers, and during his sunday night halftime commentary, nbc sports bob costas expressed his views on the tragedy. >> in the coming days, javon belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. who knows. but here wrote jason whitlock is what i said. if javon belcher didn't possess a gun, he and cassandra perkins would both be alive today. >> joining me now you always have an interesting perspective on this. we don't know a lot of details. things are trickling in about the person life of javon and his girlfriend here. what are your thoughts on this? >> i think it's a great tragedy that that game was even played. that game shouldn't have been played. the nfl should have stepped in

and said some things are more important than football. the time line in and of itself is barbaric. at 8:00 a.m. javon belcher kills kasandra perkins. by 8:10 he has a gun to his head in front of his head coach and time president. by 10:00 a.m. the nfl has already informed the carolina panthers that they need to be in kansas city the next day to play a game, and by 3:00 p.m. the nfl is putting out press releases saying, wait a minute the game is going o-but the it's the decision of the chiefs' captain and coach who just saw a player blow his brains out in front of him. maybe the captains voted to do it. i don't know for sure if that is, in fact, true. why should that be the decision of the chiefs players? imagine a similar circumstance if a pilot saw something similar with their spouse and then said, well, i'm ready to fly a plane a few hours later? no, someone would step in and say you need a time-out.

i'm interviewed a lot of nfl players, and what they say is that the playing field is the most dangerous bh you're distracted. the idea the game went on when players wrestle with the fact a teammate say murderer and also a suicide statistic at this point and then they were asked to go out and play a very violent, very dangerous sport is ridiculous. it speaks to the nfl not having a sense of its own place and its own perspective in american life. >> well, the team's coach said that this was an opportunity he felt for the team to get on the field and have at least some escape. i think it is hard to ever judge someone's way of dealing with grief or anything, but your points i'm sure are -- many people do agree with them. the bottom line is the players didn't have to go on the field and the larger issue is what happened here. if there is a lesson, yesterday

i saw a piece that talked about the number of the suicides in the nfl. junior seau that we discussed as well and a look at these players and if they get emotional support while they play and after they leave the game. >> they're clearly not. for decades the idea of talking about mental health in the national football league was taboo. it was seen as associated with weakness. you could talk about the compound fracture in your leg, but you can't talk about your depression. now that we know conclusively that concussions are linked to issues like depression and suicidal thoughts, now that we know that this kind of mental health trauma comes out of the violence of the sport, more and more people are talking about it. yet, at the same time there is still an incentive to not disclose when you have this kind of physical trauma to your head and brain. i mean, the other big story in the nfl yesterday was the san francisco 49ers who have a new starting quarterback, colin

kaepernick, who was given the starting job because alex smith was out for a week with a concussion, and now a lot of people are saying, wow, alex smith losing his job is an incentive for players not to report when they get head injuries. we know how conclusively they're he linked. i do have to say one thing, though. you're absolutely right, tamron, that people have different ways of dealing with things and perhaps being on the field. had a healing effect on the players themselves. i think the nfl as the largest sports force and cultural force in this country has a broader responsibility to say some things are more important than football. >> dave, it's always great to have you on. i want to report to our audience the associated press says police hope to deliver an investigation report to prosecutors tuesday detailing what caused kansas city chiefs linebacker javon belcher to kill his girlfriend and himself. we could have an update on the incident which, of course, is absolutely devastating and unthinkable. coming up, nbc political

director chuck todd says we could learn president obama's nomination for secretary of state as soon as this week. meanwhile, republicans are still arguing ambassador susan rice is unfit for the position. >> when it comes to susan rice, i can tell you as far as lindsey graham's concerned, i find great fault with what she said on the 16th of september. >> we'll get the first read for you. plus, we'll play for you the new hillary clinton tribute video that some say is paving a path for 2016. i'm only in my 60's...

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welcome back. there is new speculation that hillary clinton will run for president in 2016. fueling the newest speculation you might ask?

here appearance at the annual conference on middle east policy that took place in washington friday night. more than 10 minute video tribute. secretary clinton was praised by political rivals from senator onmccain and the president and by other world leaders. >> someone who knows a thing or two about political comebacks, i don't think we've heard the last of hillary clinton. ♪ girl you're amazing just the way you are ♪ >> i just have an instinct that the best is yet to come. >> i prepared some remarks for tonight, but then i thought maybe we could just watch that video a few more times. and then the next time i could count the hairstyles, which is one of my favorite past times. >> joining me now is ken vogel. you heard bibi netanyahu say he has an instinct the best is yet to come. what would be better perhaps

some say than seeing hillary clinton run for president? >> indeed. that's what a lot of her supporters want. they are actually laying the groundwork without her permission. we hear her saying -- >> who is they? who is they? >> for instance, we reported late last week that some of her aides have signaled after she steps down as secretary of state that she will come out in favor of gay marriage. this is a sticking point. it's something that would help her with a very constituency group in the democratic party and particularly on the money side, which is why we see other supporters lag the groundwork by he reaching out to big donors who will play an role in the 2016 democratic primary where we will see super-pacs weigh in saying don't make a commitment to any prospective candidates until hillary decides what she's going to do. >> it's interesting in the tribute, the president was featured where he referred to

much has been written regarding his relationship with secretary clinton, but they are great friends. it would be incredible to see, of course, his support in 2016 for her. >> yeah, well, it would be interesting, though. if vice president biden runs, which has been speculated about, there will be a real conundrum, and i think there's a conundrum for the democratic establishment if secretary clinton goes there. a lot of people feel that she would really be able to get the support of the big democratic donors and traditional parts of democratic party but not be able to bring along new parts of obama coalition, hence the gay marriage sticking point. 2016 is definitely wide open. hillary clinton was referred to me recently by an operative on the democratic side, very involved in the early jockeying says she's the 800-pound gorilla. if she goes the field is not necessarily hers for the taking, but she would have a significant

advantage coming into the race. >> when the former president is asked if his wife will run, he always says he has no idea. is there any indication behind the scenes that she's either annoyed, flattered or feels pressure as so many people -- the election wasn't even over, and everyone had their list of republicans running. of course, her name has always been there for democrats. >> i think she can't help but feel some pressure, tamron. she's been held up as the next great thing in the democratic party. that said, i think she genuinely is flattered by it. you heard in her response to the video that she's willing to sort of accept the accolades and the praise in stride and also maintain this self-depricating sense of humor about it. >> the president has started answering questions on the fiscal cliff in the half hour.

now we have some of the questions that were posed to the president. plus, congressman chris van hollen will join me live to weigh in on the fiscal stalemate. is that what he's calling it? have you heard the news? there's a royal baby on board. buckingham palace confirmed the duchess is pregnant, but they revealed the news earlier than they were planning due to a health issue for kate. we'll get the live report out of london and be sure to check out the "news nation" tumblr page. you find behind the scene pictures from "news nation." ♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. medicare open enrollment.

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so now's the time. oh, let me guess --ou see this? more washington gridlock. no, it's worse -- look, our taxes are about to go up. not the taxes on our dividends though, right? that's a big part of our retirement. oh, no, it's dividends, too. the rate on our dividends would more than double. but we depend on our dividends to help pay our bills. we worked hard to save. well, the president and congress have got to work together to stop this dividend tax hike. before it's too late. as we mentioned at the top of the hour, the president is on twitter right now answering questions from the american people about the fiscal cliff. it's part of the white house push to build support. the president has answered a few questions so far. let's get backe to kristen

welker. she's monitoring the exchanges. what have we learned, kristen? >> reporter: good afternoon. most exchanges have to do with questions concerning increasing taxes on wealthier americans as well as cuts to sbimgentitlemen. one exchange caught our attention. this is from mandy. as a recent college grad bout wout a full time job these cuts wouldn't help me, would they? the president responds kitts without revenue equal reductions in student loans, work study and college tax credits expire. bad for growth. the president says like your hair. she has purple hair, tamron. a lot of questions pouring in. as you know when you look at the polls about 60% of americans agree with president obama's plan to increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more. if you look at questions coming in, there's still concerns about those ideas, so the president answering those this afternoon.

this is really like a twitter town hall. he used a similar tactic back in 2011 to talk about jobs and the economy. also remember during the payroll tax cut fight, senior administration officials tell me they have gotten more responses during this my2k hash tag initiative than in the past. that stands for $2,000, which is how much taxes would increase. john boehner says this is at a standoff. all sides need to come back to the table at some point to get progress anytime soon. tamron. >> let me bring in congressman chris van hollen. thank you for your time, sir. very busy and saw you on the monday morning program as well. how would you categorize talks right now? is this a true stalemate? >> well, it's only a stalemate because speaker boehner, the republican leader, has not put his proposal on the table.

as you know, the president has put his cards on the table. he presented a plan. you can find it on the internet. now it's time for speaker boehner to come forward. i should say that tomorrow in the house of representatives the democrats are going to file what's known as a discharge petition to bring the senate-passed bill that extends middle class tax cuts to the floor of the house for an up or down vote. if we can get 218 signatures, 218, that's a majority, then that senate bill would come to a vote. we could immediately pass the middle class tax cuts, and the president is clear. he's waiting there with his pen to sign it. >> if you move forward on it, is that a sign to the american people there was no way to reach a deal or move ahead, at least that one step, any other way. >> well, so far we haven't really heard any specifics from our republicans. >> why do you believe that is the case, sir? >> well, because i don't think they've been able to figure out on their own side exactly how

they want to proceed. they've been talking generally about revenues, but they haven't put a plan on the table as to how to get there. the president is very clear. they talked about cuts, but the president put cuts on the table. they haven't responded yet. a discharge position signed by 218 will give everyone an opportunity to vote on extending the middle class tax cuts immediately, avoid the biggest part of the fiscal cliff. we can get all the democrats to sign it. we'll probably need 26 republicans to sign it, and if we can get 26 republicans. >> what is the likelihood of that? >> as you've heard, a growing number of house republicans like tom cole of oklahoma have said na it makes sense to proceed with what we can already agree on. if they agree to extend middle class tax cuts, here's their opportunity. i think you're going to see growing pressure. i'm sure the spoker of the house will tell his members not to sign athat petition. it will provide a very clear

signal as to whether or not people really support an extension of the middle class tax cut. that's how to get it done now. >> you referred to congressman cole, who was on the sunday morning programs. he was one of the first vocal republicans in the house to say there needs to be a resolve here. he also pointed the finger at the president if you will regarding leadership with entitlements reforms. we know secretary geithner said that that the gop needs to make a move regarding a proposal with entitlements, and the democrats would counter here. what do you make of mr. cole's comments that the president needs to show leadership with entitlement reform? >> first, the president called for a mix of revenue and cuts and pointed out we've done over a trillion dollars in cuts. it's really ironic, tamron, because we went through a presidential election where less than four weeks ago mitt romney and the republicans were beating up on the president saying he had found too much savings in medicare. we had that whole debate about the 7$716 billion they ran ads

against him. in the plez's budget over the next ten years, he has more medicare savings than the republicans do in their budget. the difference is this. the president findings savings by reducing the overall costs of care, whereas republicans, their definition of medicare reform is transferring rising health care costs on to the backs of seniors as opposed to finding ways to change the system. that's the fundamental difference. >> speaker boehner said the president's strategy was take what we offered and roll over. you have another nalgsz analysis in the "new york times" that share showing no more nice guy. president obama scarred by failed negotiations in his first term and emboldened by a clear and close election to a second term has emerged as a different kind of negotiator.

you know the criticism regarding the democrats not to stand united as a strong fist in the past with different negotiations. are we seeing a different strategy this time around where you put it all on the table and force the republicans' hand? >> well, the difference is, tamron, we just came out a presidential election where the issues we're talking about are central to the campaign. it wasn't a secret he thought we should have a balanced approach to look at the deficit and higher income individuals need to pay more. if we don't ask, everybody else is hit harder. the president is coming off a victory, and it's very clear that on this specific issue the overwhelming majority of the american people support him. so that's a big difference. as we come to the end of this fiscal cliff, republicans have to choose. do they call for $5 trillion in tax increases over the next ten years or are they going to allow

the middle class tax cuts to proceed? that's their choice, and i think people like tom cole recognize that it's unsustainable to take the position that nobody gets tax relief because they hold out for folks with 250,000 and over to get this extra tax cut on the portion of their income above 250,000. after all, what the president is saying on that part of your income above 250,000, you're going back to the clinton era tax raites, which is 4 cents on the dollar. >> congressman van hollen, thank you for your time. we'll see what happens next. thank you, sir. we could soon learn who the president wants to be the next secretary of state. chuck todd says a decision could come this week, but as we get closer to a decision, the partisan divide over the potential nomination of susan rice, considered the front-runner, seems to be intensifying. >> when it comes to susan rice as far as lindsey graham is

concerned i find great fault with what she said on 16th of september. in other areas i find her lacking when it comes to being the best choice of secretary of state. >> this is a strong, smart, capable, accomplished woman, and i think that there's too many people over there that are looking for a scalp. >> let me bring in mark murray. what's the latest on the time line? chuck todd said perhaps this week, the ap is indicating sometime in the month of december. what do you know? >> tamron, we are all bracing right now this week for a potential pick on secretary of state. i would note that the longer this goes on is maybe not potentially great news for susan rice only because she almost be considered to be left out in the wind. right now as we saw last week it was pretty tough particularly after her meetings with senators john mccain, kelly ayotte, lindsey graham, susan collins. if the white house really wants to put her in the position and get her confirmed, they probably

want to rip that band-aid off and do it soon. anything later might be tougher for her just because there's a drip drip of information that could end up hurting her candidacy. >> i want to plak a jokey joke moment between senator john kerry and senator mccain. >> senator mccain. >> thank you very much, mr. secretary. >> thank you very much, mr. president. this is what happens when you get two losers up here, folks. we're just having fun. >> they're just having fun. obviously, though, a little sensitivity. folks in d.c. wanted to be clear they know that was a joking moment. nevertheless you know folks when you hear these things they wonder what's next for senator kerry. >> one of the big parlor games

is a lot of democrats believe that one of the reasons you had republicans go so hard after susan rice is they would prefer to see john kerry at secretary of state mainly because that would trigger a special election in massachusetts with former senator and outgoing senator scott brown waiting in the wings to make get that position back. you know, looking even at that press conference, tamron, you know we've had this conversation before. john kerry's been nothing but a loyal soldier to the obama white house throughout this whole thing. >> absolutely. mark, thank you very much. we'll be right back with more "news nation." [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan p-d-p

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compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep ziggy's body as strong as a love that reaches further than anyone's words. iams. keep love strong. [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. welcome back. it's official. the duchess of cambridge is pregnant. they confirmed the news today after she was admitted to the hospital to be treated for acute morning sickness. nbc's michelle koz ski is in london. they weren't ready to wrbreak t news but life and body had its own plan.

>> reporter: yeah. i know, it's really unfortunate because this is the news that royal watchers and british citizens and people around the world have been waiting for since this couple walked down the aisle about a year and a half ago. these are not the circumstances under which the palace surely would have liked to display this happy time and this occasion, because they say katherine is experiencing severe morning sickness. they do say this is very early on in the pregnancy. it has not yen been three months, but this is a serious enough condition. it is rare that she had to be admitted to the hospital tonight, and she will stay there for several days. we also know that prince william is with her. this child will be third in line for the throne, displacing, by the way, prince harry and in a chance in the law that was enacted just for william and kate, even if they have a girl she will retain her right to be first in line even if they go on to have boys later. we can look forward to also nine

months, of course, of all the speculation about what gender it will be, the names, already on the internet we see pictures, composite photos made of what child might look like as well as a twitter handle called iamroyalbaby. tamron. >> so many weeks and months to go with all the exciting news and details, michelle. thank you very much. we will be right back. yep. the y with us, the more you save. and when you switch from another company to us, we even reward you for the time you spent there. genius. yeah, genius. you guys must have your own loyalty program, right? well, we have something. show her, tom. huh? you should see november! oh, yeah? giving you more. now that's progressive. call or click today. than a whole box of this other stuff... and that much freshness is gonna take some getting used to...

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there's a lot going on as you can see from my expression today. here are things we thought you should know. nbc news has confirmed president obama wants congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz to stay on as the head of the national democratic committee. president obama celebrated some of the nation's most influential artists and entertainers last night. led zeppelin, buddy guy, and

david letterman were among the seven honorees, while recognizing the late night legend, ray romano couldn't resist poking a little fun at the president. >> you want to win the world series. down one game to nothing? no, you keep going. you keep going. do you quit when you're down 1-0 in debates? no. no. >> that's awesome. those are the things we thought you should know. the "news nation" gut check is online today. you can go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote. it's a question concerning grover norquist. let me hear your response. that does it for your edition of "news nation." thanks for hanging with us this hour. tomorrow mark mckin none and lois romano will join us life. we've give you the latest information on the fiscal cliff. "the cycle" is up next. i'm only in my 60's...

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